Tarot is a fascinating divination tool. It involves one or more decks of tarot cards, which are artworks in and of themselves, an often charismatic tarot reader who certainly knows how to get all of your attention, and some impressive intuitive hits which are likely to stun and amaze you.
With that blend of elements, can we really be surprised that it’s become more and more of a successful form of “entertainment”? But let’s take a closer look at what sort of psychological effects it can have on someone who’s getting a reading.
The influence tarot can have on someone – The good
One of the good things that tarot readings can do for someone involves the power of positive thinking. It encourages someone’s positive outlook, often offering perhaps surprising or out-of-the-box solutions to issues or potential issues the querent may run into.
That wave of positive thinking encourages visualization as a technique to focus your energy on a goal and find ways to achieve it. It can be a powerful motivational tool.
There’s also an element of confidence boosting, as a positive outcome predicted in a situation can embolden someone to take action that they might otherwise waver on or feel too unsure of themselves to take.
Many of these positive effects can also be gained through rounds of self-development or personal coaching, as well as through seeking counseling or seeing a therapist.
The influence tarot can have on someone – The bad
There’s also a flipside to those positive effects. One of those not so positive effects can be risk-taking behavior based on predictions the querent gets. Going on blind faith in the predicted outcome, someone may skip the critical thinking part and simply launch into action.
Sometimes, people who get personal readings often can experience decision paralysis – when left without the guidance of readings, querents may become incapable of deciding or acting on their decisions without getting the green light from outside.
It’s also important to remember that some may end up romanticizing difficult situations in their life as they match them to particular cards or ideals – for example, framing abusive partners as a classic “trial” they shouldn’t give up on. Of course, these kinds of things can also be experienced by people not connected to tarot readings, but care should be taken not to fall into these kinds of traps.
The influence tarot can have on someone – The iffy
Anyone who’s received a few personal readings from a gifted reader can tell you that those readings can create dependence. Some readers may seek to attain that effect, while in other cases it’s an unforeseen consequence.
Some readers also encourage other connected or parallel practices after establishing a bond of trust – sometimes those suggestions may be less on the authentic side and more on the side of selling services. You need to make sure that a reader is an authentically spiritual person, not a salesperson at their core.
In short
Tarot is a divinatory art that can have a very strong effect on a querent. It’s very important that the reader be very aware and cautious about the consequences their work can have on someone.
Similarly, as a querent one needs to be very aware of the kind of effect tarot readings can have on them and exercise caution and critical thinking when choosing their reader and giving credit to each and every reading they get.